RCS intern Tanner Munroe has heard enough from Bud Selig and shares his take on the commissioner and MLB's steroids situation:

It’s been pretty impossible in the last week to ignore the talk of steroids and baseball, and how guys like A-Rod and Miguel Tejada are tainting the game. With the news and admittance by A-Rod that he did use ‘roids from ’01-’03, and the possible jail time that Tejada could face for admitting he lied to congressional investigators; baseball fans have been hit with a barrage of donkey punches to the back of their heads. Some of the best players are falling, and falling hard.

The one thing that bugs me however is how and why they’re falling. I understand that the media has to report the story in the way they think will best sell papers. I don’t mind that. It’s the media, and it’s their job. I also don’t mind that fans make up their own mind about what they think about the situation. Some people think it’s all a disgrace, and some couldn't care less either way. That’s fine with me. What’s not fine with me is when the commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig, makes statements like the following.

"On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am saddened by the revelations concerning Alex Rodriguez's use of performance-enhancing substances," Selig said. "While Alex deserves credit for publicly confronting the issue, there is no valid excuse for using such substances and those who use them have shamed the game."

Why does that bother me? How about because, Selig shouldn’t have the right to say anything on the situation. I don’t understand why everyone is giving him a free pass. Wasn’t it Selig that was in charge while steroids were rampaging through the league? Wasn’t it his lack of rules and regulations that led to the loose club house atmospheres where PEDs flowed freely? It seems like the public doesn’t blame him at all, since they let him talk about players shaming the game and making him sad. Why is he so innocent?

Let’s be completely honest and fair about this. Bud is just as guilty of shaming the game of baseball as anyone else is. To make it comparable to everyday life, Selig is like the parent of 16-year-old high schooler who lets his kid have house parties. The booze and possibly even drugs flow freely, but the dad tells himself there’s no problem, because an adult supervises it. It’s that kind of ignorance that makes Selig a hypocrite. He’s fine with letting the kids run wild in his house, until the Police stop by because a neighbor called in a noise complaint. Yeah he wanted his kid to be popular so he allowed half of the 11th grade to party till they drop, but now that the heat is on, he’s not going to take a rap for this. So when talking to the Cops he plays dumb and acts like he was sleeping or in the shower and didn’t know what was going on. Sure he may get in a little trouble, but he’ll also make sure to call all the other kids parents and start to act like the responsible adult once he’s caught.

Take a look at Selig's situation. He’s done the baseball equivalent of exactly this and he’s catching no criticism for it. Bud, don’t denounce the players for their actions when it was you who was supposed to police them in the first place. Don’t pass the blame when you probably knew what was happening and let it continue because baseball's popularity was growing and growing. And don’t act innocent, because you’re just as guilty with your ignorance as the players who used PED’s are. Instead let the media do its writing and the public its judging. Bud, you can continue to just sit back and hope it all blows over soon and no one realizes that you were the one who was throwing the party in the first place.